Event ROI is under scrutiny. Here’s what you can do about it., is an article written by Nth Degree Events.
Trade show and event organizers are feeling the effects of the current economic climate. Airfares, transportation, food and beverage, labor costs, venue rentals and hotel prices have increased, especially in top-tier markets.
According to Amex Global Trends’ 2024 forecast, more than two-thirds of respondents expect overall meetings spending to increase in 2024, and nearly half of North American planners say their event planning priorities in 2024 will be driven primarily by cost-cutting measures. At the same time, hotel owners say the high event prices seen today are not an accident, but a new baseline for future prices, thanks to rising labor, energy and other operational costs.
Not only does this make growth difficult, it can also make it difficult to implement the fundamentals needed to make your trade show or event a success. In the face of these economic realities, event planners must prioritize planning, strategy, and creativity to help deliver quality events on budget.
Here are some steps you can take to control costs and increase the ROI of your next event.
It is not enough to hire, we must invest in training
Event jobs are making a comeback, but many of those in these roles lack industry experience. According to Live Data Technologies, event jobs have returned to pre-COVID levels, but about two-thirds of those who started work after the pandemic were new to the event industry (based on a sample of more than 15,000 new event jobs in 2022 and 2023).
For event planners, this trend underscores the importance of onboarding, training, and mentoring. Associations like CEMA and PCMA offer top-notch training for event teams, including on-demand training, one-on-one coaching, on-site training, and more. Proper training and mentoring take more work up front, but the ROI, now more than ever, is a virtuous cycle that helps retain new hires, ease the workload of overworked team members, and better support your clients.
Invest in training today, knowing that it will pay off in the long run. And if you still face labor shortages, your event management company should be able to outsource your needs to partners with access to a guaranteed labor pool, saving you money in the process.
Consider secondary markets
Leisure tourism, which involves combining business and personal leisure, is booming. At the same time, the high costs of events are forcing organizers to hold events in second-tier cities, a trend confirmed by various studies.
According to the Amex forecast cited above, 83% of respondents said they would change venues to save 6% or more, with half agreeing to change to save up to 10%. Knowland’s 2024 State of the Meetings Industry report found that meetings and events in secondary markets outpaced the top 25 traditional markets in January, with cities like Lexington, Kentucky (76.4%) and Syracuse, New York (34.6%) seeing significant year-over-year increases. And a recent intercept study by Nth Degree Events found that 90% of respondents said they would attend a series of regional events.
To better manage your meeting costs, consider switching destinations and venues to secondary markets that offer the opportunity to lower prices while maintaining a high-quality experience. Look for the sweet spot where secondary markets and bleisure potential overlap: Nashville and its music scene, for example, or Louisville and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
In line with attendees’ penchant for bleisure, consider innovations such as flexible agendas, exhibition days and shorter events, which allow attendees to schedule extra time or add extra days (before or after the event) for work or play. Our recent intercept survey showed that most attendees (57%) preferred a three-day event to one that lasted four or more days (13%).
Engage your vendors and suppliers from the start
Consult your event management company as part of the venue selection process, and don’t hesitate to seek their expertise before making any major decisions. This will help you secure fixed costs and develop partnerships that can help you avoid costly mistakes later in the planning cycle.
For example, your event management company may offer logistics and transportation services that give organizers and exhibitors a range of options to ensure their equipment arrives at the event when needed. These options should include not only standard ground shipping, but also expedited shipping options, full truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping, and trailer solutions from event to event. This type of choice and flexibility helps you create operational efficiencies and budget predictability.
Finally, when negotiating contracts, don’t let your exhibitors pay the price for lack of transparency, poor measurement and inflated service costs, as has been the case in recent years. One of the pillars of an exhibitor-friendly policy is having a single price for material handling. Fern’s 1RATE program, for example, offers exhibitors the certainty of a single rate per pound with no minimum or overtime charges, no yard fees and no special handling, warehouse or small parcel fees.
Managing rising costs in the events industry is a constant challenge, but with proper planning combined with strategic and innovative thinking, your event can shine, even in these economically challenging times.